A recent fire in the Tepper Building on Broad Street was caused by thieves stealing copper wire from the abandoned building, according to Selma Fire Chief Walter Dailey.
Dailey told the Selma City Council Aug. 25 that investigators believe the fires were started by thieves who were burning the coating off of copper wires they were stripping from inside the building on Aug. 10.
The Selma Fire Department extinguished the fires quickly, but Dailey said if the fires had taken hold, several structures on Broad Street could have been endangered.
Dailey asked the city council to secure the Tepper Building to prevent further incidents. He also said the building could collapse. A wall of the nearby Edistone Hotel, another abandoned multistory building, collapsed earlier this week, Dailey noted.
“Nobody needs to be in it (the Tepper Building),” Dailey said. “It’s a death trap.”
Councilman Clay Carmichael said the city should look into declaring the building a nuisance and force repairs, but it would be complicated. Carmichael said the federal government already has a $1 million lien on the property.
Selma Mayor Johnny Moss III told the council that his staff had discussed taking action on the building that day.
Carmichael urged the council to consider preserving the Tepper Building rather than tearing it down.
“Preservation is a much better path forward,” Carmicheal said. “If we can get (a proposal) into the hands of a developer who can actually do something with it, the tax revenue generated would be greater than for any other building in Selma if it was fully functioning.”
A previous owner promised two different developments of the property, neither of which materialized.
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